Dog vs. Squirrel

Monday, October 9th, 2017

It came suddenly, without the faintest warning of all. There I was, innocently walking my dog Jex and talking on the phone with my mamma, when I noticed a movement at foot level a little ways ahead of me. A little squirrel, still young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, had just climbed down a tree and was now at the base of the trunk. But he had made a very dangerous mistake, which was to not pay attention to what was down on the ground before descending. As soon as he was down there, he stared face to face with Jex, who had seen him on the way down and was very eager to meet him. I stopped since Jex had, and for a long two seconds, squirrel and dog stared each other down, wondering what was to happen next. I half expected Jex to just sniff him like she would a cat, but then all of a sudden she lunged forward, grabbing the squirrel up in her mouth. The squirrel did his best to escape Jex's powerful jaws, but every time he got out of her mouth, Jex was too quick and grabbed him up again, chomping and chomping. By this time all conversation with my mother had ceased as I watched this scene unfold before my very eyes. Now Jex laid him down at the trunk of the tree, and, with ears pricked up and fire in her eyes, watched the squirrel as he, now paralyzed and unable to move, lay on his back screeching out the squeaks that signify death is knocking at his door. Now I didn't know what to do. I wanted to put him out of his misery, but I've never mercy killed a squirrel before! How do you even do that!? I mean, in all my years I've never been in such a situation because you just shoot them from afar and they die immediately. So should I bash his head in with my heel, or slit his throat with my knife? My options were pretty limited, there wasn't even a shovel handy. These questions swirled around in my mind while Jex again took her prize up in her mouth, trotted to the middle of the street, and set him down there. By now the squirrel had stopped screeching and merely blinked. And then his life faded away and he died. Well, that was it I guess. Now Jex lost interest in him and she tugged at her leash ready to continue our walk.

For what it was worth, I'm proud of her. She never attacks cats, chickens, other dogs, or any creature I tell her is good and needs to be protected. But squirrels? We used to go hunting for them in our woods, and even now I let her chase them up trees whenever she sees them. It's just that I wasn't prepared for it to happen like it did. But Jex was quite pleased with herself, and she gazed at me with those eyes as if to say, "Did you see what I did? That was great wasn't it!" And what do I think? "That's just one more reason Jex is the bestest dog ever."